Construction has officially kicked off at Google’s massive new campus in Hudson Square. The tech company plans to open office space across three properties 315 Hudson Street, 345 Hudson Street, and 550 Washington Street, which formerly served as a freight terminal. The project involves a gut renovation of the terminal building and an addition of eight new floors. As CityRealty reported Tuesday, the northern sections of the St. John’s Terminal building are now demolished.

Photo by CityRealty shows demolished sections of the terminal building, an uncovered Houston Street, and cleared site to the north

Construction photo by CityRealty

Oxford Properties Group and Google reached a lease agreement in July for the company to occupy roughly 1.3 million square feet of office space at 550 Washington Street. The addition will triple the 1934-constructed terminal’s height from 80 to 232 feet.

According to CityRealty, the northern end of the terminal will be developed by Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group separately, while Oxford plans to preserve the first three floors of the old structure.

Designed by COOKFOX and Adamson Associates, the redevelopment of St. John’s Terminal includes modernizing the historic building with floor-to-ceiling windows, large floor plates, and planted roofs and terraces. Renderings reveal a glassy and metal building, with the original railroad tracks visible throughout the building.

The developers will remove the overpass over Houston Street to better connect the area to the waterfront. Office space will feature 400 linear feet of unobstructed Hudson River views.

Google will move to 315 Hudson Street, an 1896 former candy factory. The property will undergo a $65 million renovation with a new lobby designed by FXCollaborative. Rendering courtesy of Neoscape

“St. John’s Terminal once formed the end of The High Line and our design will preserve the history and authenticity of this important piece of rail infrastructure that once connected the world to New York City,” Rick Cook, the founding partner of COOKFOX, said in a statement last year.

“By opening the site with the removal of the overpass and incorporating the rail beds, we’re connecting the building with the neighborhood, and at the same time creating a workplace that is connected with nature.”

The new building, expected to be completed in 2022, could house more than 8,500 Google employees. The space at 550 Washington Street is part of Google’s larger expansion in Hudson Square. The company announced last December that it will invest $1 billion to open 1.7 million square feet of office space across the three properties, doubling its workforce over the next decade.

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